Understand BoviSync Parlor Report

BoviSync Knowledge Base

This article explains how the Report Date, Start and End Dates, the Classic Report Options filter, Attach Date Time, and @pa fields work together in Parlor reports, with example reports you can copy.

Quick rule: Report Date = “As of when?” | Start/End Date = “Which records do I want?” | Filter = “How much detail per row?”

Before You Start: How You Log In Matters

Parlor reports only include parlors that belong to the herd(s) you are logged in to. If you log in by Owner, the report may only return the parlor at the home site. Animals milked in off-site parlors will be missing.

Tip: If your animals are milked at more than one location, log in by selecting multiple farms rather than by Owner so every parlor is included.

Understanding the Date Settings

Report Date: Determines how date-relative items are calculated. Items such as current DIM, lactation, or other animal information are calculated as of this date. In most cases, the Report Date is today.

Start Date and End Date: Determine which milking records are included. For Milk and Parlor reports, BoviSync includes records whose milking timestamp falls within the selected range, including both the Start Date and End Date.

Choosing a Filter: How Much Detail Per Row

The Filters menu on the side panel of a Parlor report includes a Classic Report Options dropdown with three options. The filter decides what each row in the report represents. Choose the least detailed option that answers your question; it keeps the report smaller and faster.

Filter	One row per…	Use it when you want to…	Helpful columns
Daily	Cow per shift. A cow milked 2x a day has 2 rows per day; 3x has 3.	Pull milk weights for each cow, compare shifts, or trend production over weeks.	PaShiftDt, PaShiftNum, PaMilk, DIM@pa, LACT@pa
All Milkings	Cow per milking (shift)	Review each milking, compare AM/PM or shift yields, check milking duration or flow.	AnID, Attach Date Time, Shift, Milk, Dur, Peak
All Attachments	Each time a unit is attached	Troubleshoot reattaches, kick-offs, or individual milking units.	AnID, Attach Date Time, UnitID, Reattach, Milk

Daily gives one row per shift, not one per day. To see a cow’s day, group by PaShiftDt. Each date then holds her 2 or 3 milkings. Add them together for her daily total (see Example 4).

What Is Attach Date Time?

Attach Date Time (short name: PaAttachdtm) is the actual date and time the milking unit was attached to the cow. For example, 8/10/2026 11:42 PM means the unit was attached at exactly that time. Changing the Report Date does not change this timestamp.

What Does @pa Mean?

Some Parlor report columns end in @pa, such as DIM@pa or LACT@pa. These are calculated relative to the parlor attachment date, so they show what was true about the cow when that milking happened, not what is true today.

Why it matters: A regular Lact or DIM column shows the cow’s current value. If you are reviewing past milkings, especially across a calving, use LACT@pa and DIM@pa so each row shows the lactation and DIM at the time of that milking.

Example

A cow is milked on August 10 at 11:42 PM. At that milking she is Lactation 2 and 85 DIM. Several weeks later, her current DIM is 120.

Column	Shows	What it means
Attach Date Time	8/10/2026 11:42 PM	When the milking unit was attached.
DIM@pa	85	The cow’s DIM at the time of that milking.
LACT@pa	2	The cow’s lactation at the time of that milking.
DIM (current)	120	The cow’s DIM as of the Report Date.

Easy way to remember it: Attach Date Time = “When did the milking happen?” | DIM@pa / LACT@pa = “What was true about the cow when it happened?”

Using Date Ranges for Overnight Milkings

Many dairies have a milking shift that starts on one calendar day and finishes on the next. The farm considers it one shift, but the parlor records carry timestamps on two different dates.

Example: Shift 3 begins August 1 at 10:00 PM and ends August 2 at 6:00 AM. Set Start Date = 8/1/2026 and End Date = 8/2/2026.

Attach Date Time	Shift
Aug 1, 10:15 PM	3
Aug 1, 11:48 PM	3
Aug 2, 12:07 AM	3
Aug 2, 3:30 AM	3
Aug 2, 5:55 AM	3

If the report is set to August 1 only, the records after midnight are left out. If it is set to August 2 only, the records before midnight are left out.

Use Shift to Isolate an Overnight Milking

A range of August 1–2 also picks up the other shifts on those dates. Add the Shift column, or use a shift quick filter in the column header, to narrow the report to Shift 3. Add Attach Date Time if you need to verify exactly which records are included.

Tip: Group the report by PaShiftDt (shift date) to keep an overnight shift together on the date the farm assigns to it. See Example 3.

Report Date vs. Parlor Date

The Report Date does not decide which milkings appear in a Parlor report. If Report Date = September 28, Start Date = August 1, and End Date = August 15, the report pulls milkings from August 1 through August 15. September 28 is only used for items calculated relative to the Report Date (such as current DIM). Fields ending in @pa use the attachment date instead.

Example Reports

Use these as starting points. Adjust the dates, columns, and quick filters to fit your herd.

Example 1: Daily Milk by Pen Summary

Goal: See average daily milk and milk per shift for each pen over the last week.

Daily Milk by Pen Summary: Start Date 7 days ago, End Date today.

Part of the report	What it shows
Start / End Date	7 days ago to today. Every milking in that week is included.
Pen@pa (row group)	Rows are grouped by the pen the cow was in at the time of each milking. Drag a column to the bar above the grid to group by it. The number in parentheses is how many records are in that pen. Click the arrow to expand a pen and see its records.
PaDailyM	Daily milk per cow, averaged for the pen.
S1Milk / S2Milk / S3Milk	Milk from shift 1, 2 and 3, averaged for the pen.

Example 2: Average Milk and Deviation by Milking Unit

Goal: Spot milking units (stalls) that are giving less milk than expected, or milking slower or longer than the rest of the parlor.

Average Milk and Deviation by Milking Unit: Start Date 1 day ago, End Date today, sorted by PaMilkS.

Part of the report	What it shows
Start / End Date	1 day ago to today, so about the last two days of milkings.
PaStall (row group)	Rows are grouped by the stall or milking unit. The number in parentheses is how many milkings that unit recorded. (Blanks) collects milkings with no stall recorded.
PaPkFlow	Average peak milk flow for the unit.
PaDur	Average milking duration for the unit.
PaMilkS	Average milk per milking. The report is sorted on this column (arrow in the header), lowest first, so the weakest units are at the top.
PaExpectMilk	Average milk the cows on that unit were expected to give.
PaDevExpect%	How far actual milk differs from expected, as a percent. Compare units: one that stands out from the others is worth checking.

Example 3: Average Milk by Shift Date (Daily Filter)

Goal: Compare milk, flow, and duration from one day to the next, using the Daily option in Classic Report Options.

Average Milk: Start Date 1 day ago, End Date today, Classic Report Options = Daily, grouped by PaShiftDt.

Part of the report	What it shows
Filters	Classic Report Options is set to Daily.
PaShiftDt (row group)	Rows are grouped by shift date, the date the farm assigns to the milking shift. The number in parentheses is how many records fall on that date.
Total	The bottom row averages all dates in the range.
PaMilkS, PaPkFlow, PaDur	Average milk, peak flow, and duration for that date.
PaExpectMilk / PaDevExpect%	Expected milk and how far actual milk differs from it, as a percent.

Tip: Grouping by PaShiftDt instead of calendar date keeps an overnight shift together on the date the farm assigns to it.

Example 4: One Cow’s Milkings by Shift Date

Goal: Review one cow’s milk, flow, and duration for each milking, day by day.

One cow’s milkings grouped by PaShiftDt, with September 19 and 20 expanded.

Part of the report	What it shows
PaShiftDt (row group)	One row per shift date, newest first. The (3) means the cow had three milkings that day.
Expanded date	Click the arrow next to a date to see each milking. On 2026-09-20 she gave 26.4 lb in shift 1, 31.7 lb in shift 2, and 30.1 lb in shift 3.
Bold date row	Shows the average of that day’s milkings, not the total. 29.4 lb is the average of 26.4, 31.7 and 30.1.
PaShiftNum	The milking shift (1, 2 or 3). On the bold date row it is averaged too, so ignore it there.
PaMilk, PaPkFlow, PaDur	Milk (lb), peak flow, and milking duration for each milking.

Need the daily total? Add the day’s milkings together. For 2026-09-20: 26.4 + 31.7 + 30.1 = 88.2 lb.

Example 5: Seven Complete Overnight Shifts

If Shift 3 crosses midnight every night and you want seven complete shifts beginning August 1, set Start Date = August 1 and End Date = August 8, use Daily, and add a quick filter of PaShiftNum = 3. Extending the End Date by one day lets the August 7 shift include its records after midnight on August 8.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to try
“Cell number exceeded” error	Remove columns you do not need, shorten the date range, or add a quick filter (Pen, Lactation) to reduce rows.
Animals or parlors are missing	Log in by multiple farms instead of by Owner so off-site parlors are included. Check the animal Status filter (e.g., Alive) if sold animals should be shown.
Lactation shows today’s value, not the value at the time	Use LACT@pa and DIM@pa instead of Lact and DIM.
Overnight shift is split or incomplete	Extend the End Date one day past the shift start and filter by Shift.
Report is slow to load	Large herds and long ranges take time. Let it finish, or narrow the date range and filter.

Quick Reference

Setting or Column	What it controls
Report Date	The point in time used for date-relative items.
Start Date / End Date	First and last dates of milking records included.
Daily filter	One row per cow per shift (2 or 3 rows per day).
All Milkings filter	One row per cow per milking.
All Attachments filter	One row per unit attachment, including reattaches.
Attach Date Time	Actual date and time the unit was attached.
DIM@pa / LACT@pa	Cow’s DIM / lactation at the time of that milking.
Shift	Groups or filters milkings belonging to the same milking session.

Key point: For a milking that crosses midnight, use a date range that covers both calendar dates, then use Shift or Attach Date Time to identify the complete session.

Related: Bovi-Insight Modern (Filters, Date Range) and Parlor report item help.